IT WAS double the joy last night for Singapore's Beijing Paralympic medallists, who received their monetary awards under the Athletes Achievement Awards (AAA) scheme at a celebratory party.
Swimming champion Yip Pin Xiu got $200,000 while equestrian bronze medallist Laurentia Tan received $50,000, both getting twice the amount they had expected.
THEY EARNED IT
'The push for an increase in awards came from many quarters but, by far, it was the Paralympians' sterling performances that made it hard for anyone to say there shouldn't be one.'
This, after the Tote Board yesterday announced increased funding for the Singapore National Paralympic Council's (SNPC) AAA, doubling the initial award amounts from those during the scheme's launch in January this year.
With the increase in the awards, however, the Tote Board decided that the SNPC should now get 25 per cent of the money, with the athlete keeping the rest.
So, applauded by some 130 guests at Oosh restaurant at Dempsey Road, Pin Xiu, 16, received a cheque for $150,000 while Tan, 29, got one for $37,500.
'I'm really surprised that they doubled the award,' said backstroke specialist Pin Xiu, who has muscular dystrophy.
'The $100,000 reward was already a good start, and I didn't expect the changes to the AAA to happen so quickly. I'm really happy. Our aim in the first place was not for the money but for the results. The award is just a great bonus.'
The increase follows a recent debate sparked by the disparity in cash awards for able-bodied and disabled athletes.
Previously, a Paralympian's award was just 10 per cent of that for an able-bodied athlete. An Olympic gold medal is worth $1 million, while a Paralympic gold had been worth only $100,000.
But, after September's Games, in which the Republic clinched its first-ever Paralympic medals - Pin Xiu winning a gold and a silver, and Tan, two bronzes - the public has been expressing displeasure at the award disparity in forums.
Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen even brought up the topic in Parliament in September.
But, as Mr Michael Palmer, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, told The Straits Times yesterday, it was the Paralympians themselves who created the biggest impetus for the change.
'The push for an increase in awards came from many quarters, but, by far, it was the Paralympians' sterling performances that made it hard for anyone to say there shouldn't be one,' he said.
England-based Tan, who flew here for the party, said she hoped this change would pave the way for a better future.
'Maybe sometime in future, we will have equality with the able-bodied athletes, like in the West, where there is no discrimination,' said Tan, who has cerebral palsy and profound deafness.
No amount of disparity, though, was going to stop Singapore's Beijing Paralympians from celebrating last night.
The party was at a cozy outdoor deck set amid lush greenery and a constant cool breeze. Laughter punctuated light-hearted conversation as guests enjoyed a buffet dinner.
Pin Xiu, Tan, swimmer Theresa Goh and sailors Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim - wheelchair racer Eric Ting was absent due to illness - were each presented with Samsung mobile phones, loaded with specially created wallpapers of themselves in action, from StarHub.
Then, they each concocted a 'Starlympic' - a specially designed cocktail of vodka, cointreau and cranberry juice - for several VIPs.
SNPC chairman Tan Ju Seng, who led the crowd in a toast to the athletes, said: 'The increase in awards is a great step forward, but I don't see this as the end. It's something we should build on, especially as disability sports become more widely known in Singapore.'
In another boost for the SNPC and its athletes, the awards will now be fully funded by the Tote Board, instead of the 80:20 Tote Board-SNPC ratio previously.
The Tote Board, which has committed its support till 2011, also further contributed $62,500 to the SNPC, in addition to its previous support of up to $150,000 for the Beijing Paralympics.
Meanwhile, Pin Xiu is planning to save the money for further studies in Australia, while Tan is considering getting an electric wheelchair.
But will Paralympians ever have parity with able-bodied athletes?
Mr Palmer felt it would be very hard.
'But, if you're asking if we'll push for more, I don't see why not.'
